Community

A virtual library from your virtual Government

There might not be any Library services between Dickson and Woden at the moment (hmm, the exact route of the great cyclepath… coincidence? I think not…) but fortunately we’re now going to have virtual libraries with John Hargreaves announcing that something called the “Tumblebook Library” is going to be made available for all the kiddies with parents who can afford to connect them to the internet.

At the moment the page loads blank in Safari and Firefox but maybe this is a Windows only gig for all I know or care.

UPDATED: Apparently (thanks kenneth) the page tried to load a popup, something few sensible netizens allow. The popup takes you to this page where, presumably, ACT Library members can make something happen.

Libraries are not just a source of books. They are also places where people congregate and learn more about how information.

Community groups use hired meeting rooms, it’s a place to pick up information flyers etc on local events, kids go to story time, students get help to research stuff, Joe Public can ask advice on how to use a particular information form.

So the ACT Government are discouraging the public from getting together and behaving like a community by closing our libraries and schools, and the NCA are encouraging us to get together with half-baked ideas about night markets and ugly food kiosks by the lake. And by the way, Stanhope, you wouldn’t need to pay for a community liaison officer at Forde if you’d just leave our local public institutions alone.